1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vibration damper and to a bearing support for a vibration damper between a vehicle body and/or a vehicle axle, such a vibration damper comprising a cylinder in which a piston rod is guided so that it can move axially, whereby the piston rod is connected by means of a first connection to a bearing, and the cylinder is connected by means of an additional connection to a corresponding bearing, whereby the vibration damper runs through at least one bearing and has a self-locking closure by means of at least one radially moveable flexible tab.
2. Background Information
A similar vibration damper bearing support is known, for example, from German Laid Open Patent Application No. 42 39 889. Bearing supports employing this functional principle permits a fast and easy fastening of a vibration damper, e.g. in a motor vehicle. The basic advantage of a bearing support which uses a snap-on connection is that the vibration damper can be installed as an entire unit by means of a simple insertion and locking movement. For that purpose, the above-referenced laid open patent application discloses flexible tabs which are engaged in an offset dome-shaped component or in a dome-shaped component bent at right angles of the motor vehicle, are bent around a retaining edge, and are thereby secured in both axial directions. Unfortunately, the bearing support used in the vibration damper described above does not make it possible to remove the entire vibration damper in similar simple manner. The pin-type hinge must be disassembled to remove the vibration damper from the offset dome. That means that the snap-on connection offers an advantage only during the initial installation. When the dampers become worn out, the damper must essentially be replaced in the conventional manner, which requires disassembly. An additional disadvantage of this bearing support is that only pin-type hinges can be used as a base. But there are many types of axles which require that the bearing be supported by means of a hinge eye.